Cooking show!

I'm working on a cooking show I'm going to put on various video hosting sites and public access. My first episode is a real simple one. I'm just doing some recipes from allrecipes. I didn't wanna screw something up on my first go. That and it's Shawna's birthday and I wanted to make her cake and ice cream. I'll post links to the video once it is finished and uploaded.

Worst Blogger ever!

I never remember to blog anything anymore. Perhaps I'm too busy. Maybe it is because I'm in a depressed mac and cheese from a box driven coma. Either way I need to get the drive and the ingredients to make something wonderful. Stay tuned folks. I will get my 12 viewers back yet!

Sorry for seemingly abandoning you good folks.

Lately, I've been in a giant funk and it has been extremely hard to dig my way out. FOr those interested in an update about my cooking school woes, I'm not going to be able to attend classes this quarter because I lack the funds and they don't like to give financial aid to people who own houses even if they inherit it and owe their sister a bunch of money to even out the estate. I am trying to get some money to go though. I've been applying for a lot of jobs and haven't gotten anything. I'm not giving up though. I also found this site that collects money for you and refunds all donations if your goal isn't reached. It is a clever idea. If you are interested in helping out the link is here for my school collection and here since I'm having trouble getting money together for house taxes. Any help is appreciated.

No food today

I decided not to cook today. Shawna and I went out to Mongolian Grill for dinner. I think I might try to make the salmon dish I was planning in a previous post and post the recipe/process. We'll have to see if I'm up to it and I have time.

I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do for culinary school. I'm compiling a list of the schools in this area that offer cooking courses and what I know about them. I plan to research them a bit and the information will grow over time. Perhaps, some of you folks can help out. I'm going to Clark College to get the basic courses out of the way since paying a big name 6 times as much to "learn" things I already know seems wasteful.

I've been trying to post in my tea blog everyday. So far I'm almost doing it, but I don't see anybody visiting it and that discourages me. I haven't pulled out my better teas yet. Maybe it will pick up.

Narutomaki(Kamaboko)

Some time back I posted a message on my other blog about wanting to find a recipe for naruto. In case you don't know, Naruto is a Japanese fish cake with a pink spiral commonly used to decorate ramen.

Image taken from japanesefood.about.com

Not long ago, someone commented on that post stating that I might have better luck searching under the name kamaboko. I did have better luck, but I still haven't found anything I could consider a recipe. There are many sites that say cooking naruto at home just isn't done because the process is too difficult. I did find one person at Recipe Link that listed some of the thickeners used in making kamaboko, but that is hardly a recipe.

My other blog gets a decent number of hits and nobody has been able to find a recipe. I've scoured the internets trying to find one. Can any of you good blog readers find anything? I promise to do a follow-up on this with pictures of me making it and the recipe/process if someone is able to find me a recipe.

Insalata Caprese

When I was at the local Ikea with Shawna we went to the food court to eat and I saw what appeared to be about the simplest thing ever made. It was a piece of cheese with a slice of tomato and a leaf of basil. It was expensive and I convinced myself that something so simple was not worth a premium. Time passed and my love of cheese made me rationalize the purchase. I thought, "Surely this must be some really good cheese with fancy heirloom tomatoes".

So, after a while I went back only to find it was no longer on the menu. This lead me to googling tomato, basil, mozzarella. That lead me to an article here that sounds awesome, but is really nothing like what I saw at Ikea.

It was at this time that I decided to just make it from the ingredients I knew were in it. I took some nice fresh mozzarella and sliced it up. I then realized I had no tomatoes. I tried making it without tomatoes. The whole thing tasted like olive oil. I know the tomato would have made a difference, but I think maybe it also should have sat for a bit to let the flavors meld.

Then after giving up I found this completely by accident while randomly looking through foodie blogs. It is the same thing I saw but in mass. I am now armed with the knowledge I need to make what seems to be about the simplest thing anybody could ever make.

breaded salmon w/ creme fraiche and dill sprig garnish

This is a dish I am planning right now. I was going to braise the salmon, but I have decided to bread it and either bake it in parchment or grill it. I also decided to have a wasabi creme fraiche and some lumpfish roe. I'm still garnishing with dill sprigs. Dill with cream and fish is awesome.

Prosciutto and baby artichoke heart pizza

I have been strapped for cash a lot lately, so I haven't been able to cook anything nice. It is like I'm a junkie not getting his fix. It is driving me mad. Cooking is my zen. So, while shopping for various things I can afford(ramen, tv dinners, and canned ravioli) I decided to get the makings of one good meal.







Prosciutto and baby artichoke heart pizza

Poulish:
1 cup bread flour
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
Dough:
1.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup semolina flour
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 cup warm water
Sauce:
1 can diced tomatoes (You can dice your own. I'm lazy)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olve oil
Oregano, Basil, and Thyme to taste
Toppings:
1/2 cup grated Muenster cheese
1/2 cup grated Fresh mozzarella
6 Small mozzarella balls
3 thin slices of prosciutto
8 baby artichoke hearts
Fresh basil leaves

Poulish:
In a small mixing bowl combine the cup of warm water with the yeast. Allow it to proof. Then add the cup of bread flour and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a wet towel and allow it to sit for at least 4 hours(over night would be fine).

Dough:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Dump the poulish into a larger mixing bowl. In a small mixing bowl combine the sugar, yeast, water and oil. Allow the yeast to proof and combine the yeast mixture with the poulish. To this add the remaining ingredients. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated and the dough forms tight gluten strands. Allow the dough to set and rise for one hour. Once the dough has risen beat it down and allow it to rise another half hour. Then roll the dough out to a circle approximately 1/4 inch thick. Place in your oven and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Now remove the crust from the oven to add the toppings.

Sauce:
Pour the tomatoes and oil to a small sauce pan. Allow the mixture to come to a slow simmer and add your spices. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Cook the sauce until the liquid is almost gone. For a uniform sauce you can then puree the mixture in a processor.

Toppings:
Preheat your oven for as high as it will go. If you have a pizza stone use it. Smear a generous layer of your sauce over the top of your crust. Mix together the muester and mozzarella and spread an even layer over your crust. Randomly place the mozzarella balls over the surface of the crust. Both the prosciutto and basil need to be chiffonaded. Once this is done cover the surface of the pizza with both. Before using the artichoke hearts on the pizza you need to heat them in the microwave on high for a minute and a half to remove some of the water or the pizza will be soggy. Place the microwaved artichoke randomly over the surface of the pizza. Finish it off by covering the toppings with any remaining cheese. Place the pizza in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown and there are no pools of liquid on the surface of the pizza.


yum

update: I have received messages about two things. First, I really like a yeasty dough and you are free to reduce the yeast by half. I really like large bubble formation and the nice gluten strands it creates. Second, the low cook time is because of precooking the dough and high cook temps.